- Mask modes allow you to set how multiple masks…applied to a single layer interact with one another…as you draw them.…You can now use keyboard shortcuts…to change the mode of a closed mask while you draw it,…or as you modify it.…Let me show you how it works.…So I'm going to just create some arbitrary masks on this frame.…They are not going to be careful rotoscoping,…I'll just draw an oval around the head,…and another one roughly where the cake is, down here.…

Having created those, I'm going to switch to the rectangle tool…and just draw a mask around these candles.…So what you would expect is what's happening,…which is as I draw this new mask it's adding.…But now just by pressing single letter keyboard shortcuts,…I'm going to change that.…If I press the end key, this mask no longer has an effect,…that's setting it to none.…If I press S, it's now a subtract mask.…

For I, I get an intersect mask,…and if I press F, it's now a difference mask.…I can also press A to set it back to add.…There's also a little bit more.…

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Author

Updated

4/24/2017

Released

11/2/2016

Find out what the latest update to After Effects CC has in store for VFX and motion graphic artists. This update is part of the Creative Cloud 2017 overhaul, and offers exciting new performance improvements (like instant preview) and workflow enhancements, including markers with durations, one-click Adobe Media Encoder queues, and freeze frames for final frames. Instructor Mark Christiansen also shows how to use new features to find missing fonts by syncing with Typekit, create luminance-based alpha channels using Red Giant's Unmult plugin as an animation preset, render compositions with the built-in CINEMA 4D renderer, and collaborate more effectively than ever with After Effects team projects.

The November 2016 release is just the first of many for After Effects CC 2017. Mark will update the course as soon as new features are released. Check back often for new tutorials.